Khalid al-Ansari explained

Khalid al-Ansari was a cabinet minister and judge in Syria. He served as justice minister in Hafez al-Assad's cabinet in the early 1990s.

Public career

Khalid al-Ansari served on Syria's court of economic security prior to his appointment to cabinet.

In 1990, while serving as justice minister, he received a request from the government of East Germany for the extradition of Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner, who was widely believed to be living in Syria under an assumed name.^[3]

Criticism

Syrian Human Rights Association president Muhanad Alhansi issued a paper in 2011 entitled, "A Study on the independence of the legal profession in Syria," in which he described al-Ansari as having set draconian legal precedents as a judge and as having interfered with the court of economic security's independence while in cabinet. Alhansi's article also describes al-Ansari as deceased.^[4]

Notes and References

1. al-Ansari is listed as Syria's justice minister in "EAST BERLIN GIVES SYRIA EXTRADITION REQUEST FOR NAZI CRIMINAL," Reuters News, 17 May 1990.
2. al-Ansari is listed as Syria's justice minister in The International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who editions of 1991 and 1992, but not 1993/94. See The International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who (1991), Reed Information Services Ltd., 1991, p. 555; The International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who (1992), Reed Information Services Ltd., 1992, p. 561; and The International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who (1993–94), Reed Information Services Ltd., 1993, p. 561. Editions from the late 1980s and 1990 do not include up-to-date listings.
3. "EAST BERLIN GIVES SYRIA EXTRADITION REQUEST FOR NAZI CRIMINAL," Reuters News, 17 May 1990.
4. Muhanad Alhansi, "A Study on the independence of the legal profession in Syria," Paris, 2011.